Magnetic and Magneto-optical Properties of CeYIG Thin Films Grown by Pulsed Laser Deposition on Quartz Substrates

• Published in: Journal of superconductivity and novel magnetism Vol. 30; no. 7; pp. 1915 - 1919
• Main Authors: Tao, Shen, Hailong, Dai, Mingxin, Song, Hongchen, Liu, Xinlao, Wei
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York Springer US 01.07.2017
• Subjects: Characterization and Evaluation of Materials; Condensed Matter Physics; Magnetic Materials; Magnetism; Original Paper; Physics; Physics and Astronomy; Strongly Correlated Systems; Superconductivity; Magneto-optical material; Yttrium iron garnet; Pulsed laser deposition; Faraday effect
• ISSN: 1557-1939; 1557-1947
• DOI: 10.1007/s10948-017-3993-9

We report the growth of Ce-substituted yttrium iron garnet (CeYIG) thin films deposited by pulsed laser deposition on quartz substrates. CeYIG exhibits a large Faraday rotation in the near-IR region. Upon investigating the phase composition and the magnetic and magneto-optical properties of the films, we present optimal process conditions for growing CeYIG thin films on quartz substrates. A saturation magnetization (Ms) as high as 159 emu/cm 3 was achieved by depositing a Ce 0.25 Y 1.75 Fe 5 O 12 thin film at a substrate temperature of 650 ∘ C and a 2-Hz laser pulse rate. Under the same depositing conditions, CeYIG thin films annealed at 800 ∘ C for 40 min provided the largest Faraday rotation (FR) angle of −6000 ∘ /cm by applying an out-of-plane magnetic field. Hence, CeYIG thin film materials show promise for magneto-optical and microwave communication applications.